After I am done with the Ham Radio license study (going slower than I thought. Life and crap) I think I want to try some basic lock picking, There is this guy in YouTube, The LockpickingLawyer who has a hundreds of videos picking all kinds of locks and showing their weakness. He is also a gun guy so gun locks are in his menu (not a big fan of the stuff out there). Lock picking requires finesse and a bit of patience to get good at it which happens to be a good thing because average criminal is not fine or patient. I say this because the ease which this guy open locks and points out the manufacturing sales will make you bobytrap your doors in order to go to sleep.
There are inexpensive pick sets with training locks in Amazon and I think I may get me one for my birthday.
And one thing I will do is NOT tell anybody I know how to pick locks. You know there will be one asshole who will try to pin some crap they did on you.
Something I’ve had a moderate level of interest in ever since I read “The Stainless Steel Rat.”
May I recommend you refer to this effort as working towards becoming an amateur locksmith, rather than learning how to pick locks? 🙂
LOL, you are right. And I am the one talking about optics all the time
Years back I discovered you can buy lockpick sets (Hint: the better ones aren’t on amazon, simply google them). So I got a set for me and one for the boy (who was about 12 at the time).
When the girls were off to some sort of dance trip, we sat watching Clint Eastwood movies and working on locks like old ladies with knitting needles.
Valuable skill. Especially if you are doing charity work, and the keys they gave you to the kitchen don’t open the walk in fridge or any of the warmer racks. The boy sprung them in seconds.
BTW, those cheap locks are useless. Even the master lock ones. The hardest to pick were the solid brass ones with brass tumblers. So now, I buy nothing but good quality padlocks.
The cheap combo ones are as bad. A simple shim springs them effortlessly.
copy on the Google… thanks!
Heh heh heh. Innocent labels are harder to decipher… been wantin to become a “locksmith” for a while. Gonna get the tools soon. Back in high school a buddy was always lockin his keys in his car. I got tired of driving him home to get the spare key so I made a car lockout kit and kept it in my car
Google “Deviant Ollam” he’s got some lock picking books as well as a ton of videos from Defcon. He’s got a few really good vids on flying with guns, too…
https://deviating.net/firearms/packing/
O2
First, Miguel those amazon picks are garbage. Don’t waste your money.
There are some other lock sport/lockpicking YouTube channels/videos you should watch.
The first is Deviant Ollam. He’s in several great videos on lockpicking and pen testing, just search his name on YouTube. Also a series on “Flying with Firearms” that got posted by TFB.
His site is a great resource.
The next is Bosnianbill’s Locklab Have a look at his Lock Picking for Beginners playlist. Bonus:LPL visits Bosnianbill’s Locklab
For a decent set of picks with some practice locks have a look at the Sparrows Night School or Sparrows Night School tuxedo + edition Review:Sparrows NIGHT SCHOOL
After you’ve finished picking those and are wanting more of a challenge I suggest you get The Revolver and a Reload Kit w/Tweezers cheaper then buying a bunch of practice locks and if you feel the need you can add some security pins to you home door locks. 😉
Review:The Revolver Review:Reload Kit w/Tweezers
On your worrying about “optics”, the vast majority of criminal theft and entry is either destructive (ie. breaking a window, kicking in a door, etc.) or through unlocked/open doors, not by lockpicking.
There are recognized lockpicking for sport events, know as LockSport.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locksport and http://locksport.com/
There is also The Open Organisation Of Lockpickers https://toool.us/
Do a search for “bump key videos”.
Bought one of those “cheap” amazon pick sets $25 bucks- stainless steel with molded handles. Came with a see thru lock. Works pretty good, been practicing for half hour… Im hooked! Its fun and a good skill to know